Greece, Here I Come!

Put a down payment on our trip to Greece today! I am already dreaming of the red tile roofs, white stucco, and deep blue water sparkling in the summer sun.

This is the reason I had to have my new camera right this very moment!!! I decided that I needed my camera now so that I'd have time to play with it and figure it all out before we depart for the Hellenic Republic.

We are going over Labor Day weekend, so we only have to take four days off. We are cruising on Royal Caribbean and our ports include Dubrovnik, Croatia; Ephesus/Kusadasi, Turkey; Corfu, Greece; and the much anticipated Santorini, Greece!

I had never really thought of visiting Greece until I watched The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I was so taken back by the landscape that Lena saw while visiting her grandparents for the summer, not to mention the sweet love story that developed between Lena and Kostos, that I became intrigued by the historical and mythological landmark that is Greece.

After sailing to Alaska last fall, Jer and I have been eager to plan our next cruising vacation. While flipping through the destination brochure, we landed on the Mediterranean and it just made sense to both of us! And now with the recent unveiling of the film 300, we are both fascinated and obsessed! (Would you believe, he spent nearly a day researching the fabled tale of the 300 Spartans who defeated much of the evil Persian military?)

As if it were necessary, we've justified the vacation as being our last big hurrah before we start a family, our babymoon if you will. It remains to be seen if we will be with child during the trip! ;)

Now, I am knee deep in literature describing all the possible shore excursions we can take. Do we dare cram in as much site seeing as we can stand, or do we opt for the more subdued and relaxed beach excursions? That is the question! I can already predict that it will have to be a compromise in the middle. Jer is much more inclined to r...e...l...a...x... to the max on vacation, i.e. sleeping in, going to bed early, doing nothing involving any amount of exercise (unless golf is involved somehow). Me on the other hand, I take after my mother, and well...that means every day is planned nearly to a tee. Granted, I'm not as bad as Mom...I don't have a minute by minute schedule we must adhere to. But, I certainly don't know if I'll ever get to go back to Greece, let alone Europe, and I want to see all I can! I want to sit in the open air theatre where Paul once preached the gospel. I want to see the strict monasteries that still don't allow women inside their hallowed walls. I want to ride a donkey to the top of the hill to see the volcanic crater lying just below the water's surface that created the Aegean gem of Santorini. Who could argue with me? LOL!